diff --git a/tests/test_webui_queue_dashboard.py b/tests/test_webui_queue_dashboard.py
index cc9ea97..cbdcc16 100644
--- a/tests/test_webui_queue_dashboard.py
+++ b/tests/test_webui_queue_dashboard.py
@@ -12,12 +12,14 @@ from starlette.testclient import TestClient
 from webui.app import create_app
 from webui.queue_loader import (
     PaginationMeta,
+    QueueSnapshot,
     _classify_issue,
     _classify_pr,
     _extract_linked_issue,
     load_queue_snapshot,
     snapshot_to_dict,
 )
+from webui.queue_views import render_queue_page
 
 _RECENT = datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()
 _STALE = (datetime.now(timezone.utc) - timedelta(days=30)).isoformat()
@@ -210,5 +212,77 @@ class TestQueueRoutes(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(len(snapshot.prs), 0)
 
 
+def _empty_pagination() -> PaginationMeta:
+    return PaginationMeta(
+        page=1,
+        per_page=50,
+        returned_count=0,
+        has_more=False,
+        is_final_page=True,
+        inventory_complete=True,
+        pages_fetched=1,
+    )
+
+
+def _empty_fetch(*_args, **_kwargs):
+    return [], _empty_pagination()
+
+
+class TestQueueFailClosedUx(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Regression tests for #458 fail-closed empty-state copy."""
+
+    def test_fail_closed_view_suppresses_empty_queue_copy(self):
+        snapshot = QueueSnapshot(
+            project_id="gitea-tools",
+            repo_label="Scaled-Tech-Consulting/Gitea-Tools",
+            prs=(),
+            issues=(),
+            pr_pagination=None,
+            issue_pagination=None,
+            fetch_error="Gitea credentials unavailable for gitea.prgs.cc",
+        )
+        html = render_queue_page(snapshot)
+        self.assertIn("Queue unavailable", html)
+        self.assertIn("Not loaded", html)
+        self.assertNotIn("No open items.", html)
+        self.assertIn("pagination:</strong> unavailable", html)
+
+    def test_fail_closed_route_does_not_show_empty_queue_copy(self):
+        client = TestClient(create_app())
+        snapshot = load_queue_snapshot(
+            fetch_prs=_empty_fetch,
+            fetch_issues=_empty_fetch,
+        )
+        snapshot = QueueSnapshot(
+            project_id=snapshot.project_id,
+            repo_label=snapshot.repo_label,
+            prs=(),
+            issues=(),
+            pr_pagination=None,
+            issue_pagination=None,
+            fetch_error="Gitea credentials unavailable for gitea.prgs.cc",
+        )
+        with mock.patch("webui.app.load_queue_snapshot", return_value=snapshot):
+            response = client.get("/queue")
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertIn("Queue unavailable", response.text)
+        self.assertNotIn("No open items.", response.text)
+
+    def test_successful_empty_inventory_shows_empty_copy(self):
+        snapshot = load_queue_snapshot(
+            fetch_prs=_empty_fetch,
+            fetch_issues=_empty_fetch,
+        )
+        self.assertIsNone(snapshot.fetch_error)
+        self.assertEqual(len(snapshot.prs), 0)
+        self.assertEqual(len(snapshot.issues), 0)
+        self.assertTrue(snapshot.pr_pagination.inventory_complete)
+
+        html = render_queue_page(snapshot)
+        self.assertNotIn("Queue unavailable", html)
+        self.assertEqual(html.count("No open items."), 2)
+        self.assertIn("pagination (complete)", html)
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/webui/queue_views.py b/webui/queue_views.py
index 8294b8e..e5e6dd7 100644
--- a/webui/queue_views.py
+++ b/webui/queue_views.py
@@ -38,7 +38,13 @@ def _queue_table(
     title: str,
     items: tuple[QueueItem, ...],
     columns: tuple[tuple[str, str], ...],
+    fetch_failed: bool = False,
 ) -> str:
+    if fetch_failed:
+        return (
+            f"<h3>{html.escape(title)}</h3>"
+            "<p class='muted'>Not loaded — queue fetch did not complete.</p>"
+        )
     if not items:
         return f"<h3>{html.escape(title)}</h3><p class='muted'>No open items.</p>"
 
@@ -73,9 +79,11 @@ def render_queue_page(snapshot: QueueSnapshot) -> str:
             f"{html.escape(snapshot.fetch_error)}</p></div>"
         )
 
+    fetch_failed = bool(snapshot.fetch_error)
     pr_section = _queue_table(
         title="Open pull requests",
         items=snapshot.prs,
+        fetch_failed=fetch_failed,
         columns=(
             ("number", "#"),
             ("title", "Title"),
@@ -88,6 +96,7 @@ def render_queue_page(snapshot: QueueSnapshot) -> str:
     issue_section = _queue_table(
         title="Open issues",
         items=snapshot.issues,
+        fetch_failed=fetch_failed,
         columns=(
             ("number", "#"),
             ("title", "Title"),